Faith Alive Christian Resources, the publishing ministry of the Christian Reformed Church, is actively helping to promote and integrate “the faithful and fruitful use of the biblical psalms” into the life of worshiping communities.
Faith Alive’s newest psalms resource is Psalms for All Seasons: A Complete Psalter for Worship, copublished by Faith Alive; the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship; and Brazos Press, a division of the Baker Publishing Group.
“This resource crosses boundaries,” says Martin Tel, one of the collaborators on the book, in an interview with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Tel is the C. F. Seabrook Director of Music at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey.
The book chronicles the history of how Christians have used the psalms in the past. It also provides, says Tel, a look at current uses of, and musical settings for, the psalms.
Collaborating on the book with Tel were Rev. Joyce Borger, worship and music editor for Faith Alive Christian Resources, and John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
“People in any particular psalm-singing tradition will find hundreds of examples of their own material,” says Tel.
This volume “draws freely from a wide variety of approaches and styles, providing multiple options and making it possible to easily compare the strengths of each.”
Psalm fests that gather people for congregational singing of psalms from the new book are being held as well.
Also in the works, and separate from the new psalms book, is Lift Up Your Hearts—a joint hymnal of the Christian Reformed Church and the Reformed Church in America set to be released in 2013.
Some of the psalm settings from Psalms for All Seasons will be featured in the new hymnal.
About the Author
Chris Meehan is a freelance writer and commissioned pastor at Coit Community Church in Grand Rapids, Mich.
